Ben McKinney

A tall, attacking opening bat, Ben McKinney was on England's radar almost as soon as he graduated from the Under-19s. McKinney had played only three first-class matches for Durham when he made his England Lions debut, against Sri Lanka in August 2024. He scored his maiden List A and first-class hundreds the same month, and then shone for the Lions on their tour of Australia, making 110 off 110 balls in defeat in Sydney.

He started the following summer by making 153 against Warwickshire at Chester-le-Street, but managed only one other hundred and averaged 31.38 as Durham suffered Championship relegation on the final day. His focus was on red-ball development, but he did debut in the Hundred having been picked up in the draft by Manchester Originals. After another Lions tour, shadowing England at the start of the 2025-26 Ashes, he began the county season by rattling off a first double-hundred - 244 off 272 balls - against Gloucestershire at Bristol to reignite talk that he could be England's next Test opener.

McKinney had captained England at the 2023-24 Under-19 World Cup in South Africa, having made his first-class debut for Durham against Sussex the previous April. He also featured in the One-Day Cup later that season. His calmness under pressure was cited as one of his main leadership traits, and as a top-order batter, his height gives him the ability to hit boundaries off good balls.
ESPNcricinfo staff